Published 4:26 pm, Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Capital Region's got some funny kids. At least one from Latham and one from Castleton have their chuckle-worthy creations featured in "Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book," a paperback tome put out by the UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation to raise funds for child medical grants for eligible families.

UHCCF collected more than 600 popular and original jokes from kids for the new joke book, which will be available on Tuesday. Since 1999, the foundation has funded more than 6,500 child medical grants totaling more than $20 million.

Last year, 36 grants were awarded to families in New York, while more than 1,700 grants, worth more than $5.6 million, went to families across the country.

Opalka Gallery's 2014 film series continues with its second entry, "Sosua: Make a Better World," at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Sage College of Albany campus, 140 New Scotland Ave., Albany.

The documentary, directed by Renee Silverman, tells the story of Jewish and Dominican teenagers in New York City's Washington Heights who work with famed theater director, composer and writer Liz Swados ("Doonesbury," "Rap Master Ronnie") to put on a musical about the Dominican rescue of 800 Jews from Hitler's Germany. The filmmakers also mix in a behind-the-scenes portrait of the neighborhood.

The next films in the series are:

April 16: "Teenage," a study of youth culture from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th.

The Youth FX teen filmmaking program in Albany had a sellout screening of their 2013 short films at Spectrum 8 Theaters, so the theater will offer an encore screening at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The event features eight documentary and narrative films, followed by a Q&A panel with the filmmakers.

This crop of shorts deals with topics such as food justice, video gaming, youth violence and adolescent female identity.

The screening will also feature two documentaries: "Tyler," about Tyler Rhodes, who was killed in Albany's Hoffman Park in April 2011; and "Inside The Ring," a profile of the City of Albany youth boxing program. The latter was recently selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth in Seattle.

Tickets for the screening are $10 for adults and $5 for students. All proceeds will support the 2014 Youth FX summer program.